1. The Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to an improved connector assembly for detachably connecting fiber optic cables with a one-to-one engagement of fibers and, in particular, to a fiber optic connector assembly which obviates many disadvantages of the prior art.
2. The Prior Art
Since the development of light transmitting fibers there has been a constant attempt to find satisfactory means for terminating cables made up of bundles of optical fibers in such a manner that the cables can be detachably joined in continuous lengths. Most of these attempts have not proved to be too successful because of the very small size of the fibers and the fact that during manufacture they are coated with material intended both to protect the fiber and improve its light transmitting characteristics. In the case of plastic fibers, the coating material cannot be readily removed by heat or chemical processes since those methods generally would tend to destroy the optical qualities of the fiber. This is not the case with glass fibers. However, with either glass or plastic fibers there is a strict prohibition against nicking the fibers during the removal of the coating layers, since any nick of the fibers will substantially reduce the light transmitting characteristics thereof.
The previous attempts to join optical fibers have generally used a connector which joins bundles of fibers, with the concept being that enough fibers of the bundles will overlap with sufficient alignment to allow light to be transmitted between the connected cables. These connectors generally also require potting of the fibers in the connector with polishing of the end of the fiber bundle to assure good mating and light transmission. While these connectors have, to a certain extent, proved satisfactory, they are exceedingly slow to assemble and substantially reduce the information transmitting characteristics of each fiber optic cable by using only a portion of the fibers at any connection.
The previous attempts to connect optical fibers on a one-to-one basis have generally required feeding the individual fibers into opposite ends of a tubular member which is then either heat shrunk or otherwise bonded to the two fibers. This, of course, forms a permanent joining of the fibers with no possibility for future disconnect without damage to one or the other or both of the fibers. It is also a tedious assembly process to insert the fine diameter fibers into the tubular joining member.